A Mother And A Son
by Angel Forever
Summary: Mystique has come back as Principal of Bayville High, not to cause trouble but just do her job as a principal. Mystique is regretting on everything she has done and the only thing she ever wants is her son, Kurt.
1. Chapter 1

_Mystique has come back as Principal of Bayville High, not to cause trouble but just do her job as a principal. Mystique is regretting on everything she has done and the only thing she ever wants is her son, Kurt. _

**Title: A mother and a son**

In a highly furnished bedroom in a Boarding house, a woman with red hair and blue skin sits at her bed staring at Bayville High year book. Her eyes showed regrets, pain, fear and hoping of love. She placed her right hand over the cover and then took a deep breathe and flipped the pages. The pages opened to a page with a boy with dark blue hair and fair skin. Deep inside she knew that he does not look like that; she knew that he has her eyes and skin. Tears quickly well up in her eyes and slowly trickled down her face and drips onto the picture of her only son. She never meant to cause him so much pain, never. The reason she never took him back as she feared for his safety.

"If only you knew how much I long to have you in my arms…my son…"Mystique trailed off as she closed the book and puts it in her bedside drawer. She got up and looked out the window. The sun was rising, time to change and get to school. However, Mystique felt like staying in her room all day long. She felt weird seeing her son that does not even call her mother or does not even recognize her as his own mother. But, Mystique placed her hand over her heart and looked out into the sky.

"I'll always treat you as my son, even if you don't treat me as your mother." Mystique quietly murmurs as she bows her head down slightly, letting out a heavy sigh. Misunderstood, gone crazy, blinded, was all she could think of.

Dawn has arrived and a sleepy furry blue figure still hides under his blanket as the sun rays shines through his window. A knock is heard on his door but Kurt just ignores it and continues snoozing. A louder knock is heard again but Kurt simply ignores it. The door then swings open and Jean comes in. She walked over to his bed and shakes Kurt.

"Kurt, get up, time for school! Scott's going to send you guys today." Jean melodiously says as she shakes Kurt. Kurt peers through the top of his blanket and looks at Jean. Jean was taken aback as she saw his eyes. His eyes were swelled up and his eyes show sadness and rejection.

"K…Kurt, what happen?" Jean asked worriedly.

"Sniff nothing…" Kurt solemnly replied.

"What do you mean nothing? Your eyes are swollen, have you been crying?" Jean asks.

"I…I just needed to pour things out you know…sniff" Kurt replied as he turned his face away from Jean.

"Do you need to talk? You know I am always around if you need to talk…" Jean asks.

"No but thanks…I, I'm going to get ready." Kurt got up and grabs his towel from his drawer and heads out his room. Jean just stared at the door feeling pretty worried. It's not the first time this has been happening. Kurt has been acting gloomy for the past few days and for once, he has not been cracking up any jokes. This isn't the Kurt Jean knew and it is starting to worry her.

Down in the kitchen, Scott is munching on his bread and explaining Bobby's assignment.

"…and that is how you get Copper II Sulphate Crystals." Scott replies smiling as he refills his cup with milk.

"Oh! Now I get it, thanks Scott." Bobby replies as he munches on Storm's homemade chocolate cookies. Bobby took one glance at his watch and grabs his backpack. "Got to get going, Sam and I are going to check out the Music store to see if Simple Plan's New Album has arrived."

"Scott?"

Scott turns around to see Jean come into the kitchen. She walks up to him and places a light kiss on his cheek and then heads to the fridge.

"Morning and yeah?" Scott replies, watching Jean pouring orange juice into a cup.

"I'm…worried about Kurt lately…" Jean says as she sits next to Scott looking at her orange juice.

"Is something wrong?" Scott asks.

"This morning…I went to wake him up and…his…his eyes were swollen. I think he was crying the whole night…I sense something is troubling him." Jean tells Scott as she spread butter on her bread. "He seems very gloomy now a days and he is not the Kurt we know."

Scott thinks for a while and realizes Jean is telling the truth. Kurt is acting really strange now a day. "Come to think of it, you're right; I wonder what's bugging him."

"I asked him if he needed someone to talk to but he said no. I told him I am always around if he needed anyone. Maybe…you could talk to him Scott; you're like an older brother to him." Jean looks up at Scott and places her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'll talk to him." Scott says as he places his hand over Jean's hand that is on his shoulder and broke a smile to cheer her up. Jean lets out a small laugh and eats her bread.

"Scott! We're ready!" Rogue shouted from outside the kitchen with Kitty beside her typing her hair up.

"Gotta go, see you later Jean." Scott got up and places a kiss on her head and left. Jean looks at Scott leaving the kitchen and smiles happily. She never felt so happy to be with Scott, he is all that she ever wanted.

In the car, Kurt sat in the front seat while Rogue and Kitty sat behind. Scott turned to look at Kurt. Kurt was staring out on his side, staring blankly at the surroundings. Scott then looked at his rear view mirror and sees Kitty telling something funny to Rogue. The moment Kitty makes a funny facial expression, Rogue bursts out laughing with Kitty. Scott then turns back to Kurt but Kurt seems unaware of the laughter made by Rogue and Kitty.

Kitty turned to the front to see Kurt staring outside.

"What's up with him?" Kitty thought to herself. She decided to tell him about what she told Rogue. Kitty bends over to Kurt and pokes his head but Kurt does not respond.

"Kurt! Yoo-hoo!" Kitty ruffles Kurt's hair up.

"Huh?" Kurt slowly turns around

"What's up? You seem blue…well, emotional kind of way." Kitty asks smiling. Kurt looks at her and turns back, gazing out at the surroundings.

"Nothing, I…just did not sleep in well last night, that's all." Kurt softly replies. Kitty, confused, looks at Rogue who also does not know what's wrong. The two girls then turn to Scott and Scott gives an unsure look on his face.

"Man…ah never seen him like this before." Rouge tells Kitty.

"Me too, it's…kind of scaring me." Kitty replies looking at Scott. Scott understands what the girls are trying to say.

Wanda walks down the stairs and heads towards the kitchen. Freddy is gorging down a big sandwich while Pietro, her annoying brother was reading a magazine.

"What are you reading?" Wanda asks Pietro as she sat down opposite him.

Pietro puts down his magazine and takes a sip of his glass of water. "Nothing, just bored so I just grab any magazine I see lying around." Pietro replies.

"Morning pumpkin!" Toad exclaims as he hops in and gives Wanda a big hug.

"Urgh! Get off me Toad!" Wanda shouts as she pushes him off.

"Aw…not use to morning hugs or just woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" Toad asks Wanda.

"Whenever there is you around, I always get up on the wrong side of the bed…" Wanda replies irritated. She grabs a donut from the plate on the table and walks off.

"Toad, when are you going to ever give up? My sister doesn't even like you." Pietro asks while reading the magazine.

"What's wrong with trying? Ever seen a guy chasing a girl for her heart?" Toad asks as he catches a fly with his tongue.

Pietro looks at Toad with a disgusted look on his face when he saw Toad eat a fly. Lance then walks in with his backpack hung over his shoulder. "Going to school now, Pie, you coming?" Lance asks as he grabs a donut from the plate.

"Nah, I'll be in school in a flash. I'm faster than that jeep of yours." Pietro says as he throws the magazine one side.

"Whatever…" Lance rolls his eyes and heads out the house.

"Wait! I need a lift to school too! I've got to meet up with Rogue and Kitty!" Wanda shouts from the living room with her backpack.

"Alright, meet you outside." Lance says as he closes the door.

"You know…I could buy you a beautiful horse to ride on my princess!" Toad smiles at Wanda as she flips her bag over her shoulder.

"Like you have the money…" Wanda says as she walks off.

Freddy walks out the kitchen and lets out a loud burp. Then he turns to Toad and says," She's right you know."

"Ah just shut up…"Toad replies and the hops off.

At school, Kitty and Rogue head off first. Before Kurt left, Scott called him over.

"Hey man, listen, is there something that is bugging you lately?" Scott asks.

"Uh…no man, I'm okay."

"You seem a little…I don't know…blue? Bluer than blue…"

"Its just I have these dreams about…well…you know what, maybe I tell you later, right now, I better get to class." Before Scott could hold him back, Kurt teleported over to Kitty and Rogue.

A car pulls up at car park and a familiar face on the school campus steps out. Many of the students walking past and were happy to see their old principal back. Mystique is greeted by many of the students as she walked up the steps to the school. As she sees some of the students greeting her, she then thought of Kurt. Would he have done the same or would he ignore the fact she has returned. Her smile soon turned into a fake smile. Today, she hopes that returning to school was something she would not regret.

As Mystique entered the school building, Kurt caught a glimpse of her.

"Mystique? Is that really her?" Kurt wondered. Before he could go check it out, Lance walked up to him.

"Hey Kurt, have you seen Kitty?" Lance asks.

"I saw her with Rogue and Wanda over at the lunch tables" Kurt answers

"Thanks man." Lance says as he walks off.

Kurt then turned back to the school main doors. Is it true that Mystique, his mother, has returned or was it just his imagination?

**Next chapter: Here I am**


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: Here I am**

Kurt entered the school building but the supposed Mystique was not to be found. The corridors were swarmed by students.

"Just great…"Kurt thought. He then walked over to his locker and turned the lock knob. Suddenly, he realized something, the moment he thought he saw Mystique, his heart felt so much lighter or better. Now, he feels it is just all a figment of his imagination.

"Kurt!"

Kurt turned around to see Amanda run towards him.

"Hey…" Kurt replied monotone.

Amanda looked at him with an awkward look on her face and then shook it off. She just smiled and hugged him. It was two weeks since she came back from her grandparents' trip. Kurt felt happy to see her at last. Amanda embraced Kurt's hug and then looked up at him to see that his smile suddenly faded.

"What wrong?" Amanda asked.

"Nothing…I…just thought I saw…"

"Yes?"

"Sigh doesn't even matter, it won't happen anyway…" Kurt hung his head low letting out another heavy sigh.

Amanda could not stand to see Kurt so depressed and it is like the first time she has ever seen him like this. "Is something bothering you?" Amanda asked.

"Huh? Uh…no, nothing at all"

"Sure?"

"Yeah… I'm fine…"

"Oh yes!" Amanda snaps her fingers! "I just got news! Our former Prin—

The announcement system came on and Principal Kelly was on the speaker.

"Students, there will be assembly for the first two periods. Kindly make your way to the assembly hall immediately. Thank you."

Kurt then turned his head towards Amanda. "You were saying?"

"Tell you later, right now, let's get a seat in the auditorium." Amanda says as she drags Kurt's arm.

Behind the stage, Mystique is pacing up and down quickly. Her mind is clouded with things, not about running the school but on seeing Kurt. Will he be there? Would he be shocked to see her? What would happen next? Mystique just suddenly felt like quitting, she felt that she could not face her son. She felt she was not worth receiving his love at all. Her head was clouded with so many thoughts that she did not hear Principal Kelly come up.

"Miss Darkholme?"

Mystique jumped in surprise as she did not hear Principal Kelly come up. "Y…yes, what is it?" Mystique asks.

"We are ready now, I think the school is overjoyed that you have finally returned from your long holiday." Principal Kelly replies smiling.

"Well yes, it was a much long deserved rest, thank you." Mystique tried to smile.

"Then, let's get the show on the road then, shall we?" Principal Kelly said.

Kurt sat in the middle row with Amanda, Rogue sat with Wanda in the first row and Lance and Kitty sat behind Kurt and Amanda. Even though they were mutants, things seem to have cooled down a bit. Principal Kelly walked onto the stage and adjusted the microphone.

"Good morning boys and girls! As much of you know, a familiar face has returned to our school campus!"

The whole auditorium roared with cheers.

"What is he talking about?" Kurt asks Amanda. "What I tried to tell you earlier on. Just watch!" Amanda says hugging Kurt's left arm.

"Please welcome back…Principal Darkholme!"

"What!" Kurt exclaimed as the whole auditorium shook with cheers and claps.

"It cannot be!" Rogue shouted.

"Mystique?" Pietro shocked.

"She's back? The crazy woman!" Toad exclaimed at Freddy.

"Am I dreaming?" Kitty asks Lance. "Unfortunately no…" Lance replied. Kitty looked at him awkwardly. "You knew about this?" Kitty asks. "She came late last night so we did not bother to say anything." Lance shrugged.

Mystique walked out onto the stage smiling and waving to everyone. Her eyes were desperately searching for Kurt, darting all around at every corner. Kurt however, was having a hard time believing it. His heart was racing and he doesn't know whether to be happy or just plain speechless. Amanda however, unknown to his past shouts out and cheers for his mother that she doesn't even know that they are related. Unable to search for her son among so many students, Mystique decided to carry on with her speech.

"Hello fellow students. I am very happy to be back here with all of you. I know I have been gone for a long time and just left so suddenly. As a start to kick off today, we shall end school two hours earlier! How about that?"

The whole hall burst into cheers as ending school early is one of the main things every student would want.

"Alright!" Kitty shouted out. Lance looked at her a bit confused as he thought Kitty doesn't even like Mystique. "I thought you would be suspicious of Mystique's return or even think we are in it?" Lance asked quietly. Kitty turned around and laughed out. She wrapped her hands around him and replied, "She just came back last night and if you guys are not bothered to ask her why, then that means you guys have nothing to do with it! Besides, I believe you Lance, I always will." Kitty then gave him a small kiss on the cheek and smiled.

Kitty then turns back to the stage leaving Lance very happy that the girl of his dreams trusts him and he feels assured that she will never leave him.

Back at the Xavier institute, Storm is busy making a special lunch for everyone while Jean is in the kitchen with Storm marking the New Mutants Assignments. Storm looked over at Jean who is feeling quite satisfied with the assignments handed in to her.

"So how is the class?" Storm asks as she pours in some herbs.

"Alright, they seem to have improved." Jean replies giving Bobby's assignment an A.

"Bobby's? Am I dreaming?" Storm exclaims laughing.

"He is pretty bright kid if he puts the effort in. From this grade, he seems to have made a tremendous amount of improvement." Jean says as she stacks the papers properly.

Suddenly, flashes of a girl lying under a tree appeared in her mind. Jean, surprised by this sudden vision pushed the papers all over the floor. Storm got surprised and went to pick up the papers.

"Jean? Are you alright? What happened?" Storm asks concerned.

"I…I had a vision…of a girl…lying under a tree…"Jean trailed off. Jean quickly got up from her seat and ran outside the mansion followed by Storm. Jean scanned the surroundings and then another flash of the same girl crawling towards the bushes. Jean quickly lifted herself upwards and scanned the area. Storm, from the ground, wondered what was going on. Then, Jean flies towards a bush and lands in front of it.

Jean peered over the bushes to see a girl in her visions. The girl wore a plain white long sleeve shirt and long white skirt. She looked to be around Jamie's age. Her skin is lightly tanned and her hair is long and starry white.

"Oh my gosh! Storm! Over here!" Jean called out. Storm flew up and landed beside Jean to find a helpless girl lying on the grass behind the bushes. Jean and Storm quickly aided the girl.

Jean made a telepathy call out to Professor Xavier.

"_Professor! I found a girl lying on the Xavier grounds!" Jean cried out telepathically._

Professor Xavier got the message loud and clear in the library. From where Jean is, he could telepathically see the girl who looked extremely exhausted.

"_Bring her in Jean; she may be seriously hurt." Professor Xavier said _

"_Got it." Jean replies_

"What did Xavier say?" Storm asks.

"He said bring the girl in, come on."

Storm picked the girl up and found the girl to be extremely light. This alarmed her as this wasn't normal.

"She is very light! Is she mal-nourished?" Storm worriedly says.

"Come on; let's get her to the medical ward." Jean says following Storm into the Mansion.

As they leave, a pair of angry eyes watches them from a distance.

BRRRIIINNNGGG!

The doors of different classes burst open, marking the end of the school day. Kurt slowly walks up to his locker feeling very confused. Part of him is happy that Mystique has returned but the other part is upset and suspicious of her. But then again, could all this change for the better? Their former Principal Kelly had such a influence on the rest of the human body in the school. He turned all of them into hating the mutants but if Mystique returns, could things change for the better?

Deep in thought, Kurt unknowingly walks right into Rogue.

"Ouch! Watch where you're going!" Rouge exclaimed while picking herself up from the ground. The moment she saw opened her eyes, it was Kurt who she walked into.

"Oh! Sorry Kurt…ah…ah thought you were someone else." Rogue apologized as she helped Kurt up.

"It's alright, it's my fault, I wasn't watching where I was going." Kurt said as he brushed off the durst from his shirt.

"So…Mystique returning…got any idea?" Rogue asks as she waits for Kurt while he packs his bag with some books from his locker. Kurt, stunned by the question, hung his head low and then looked at Rogue. Rogue felt something was up and she could not wait any longer.

"Alright! What's up with you? You don't seem to crack any jokes and you're just…not yourself! Kurt, ah and the rest are worried about you…can't you just tell us what's going on?" Rouge asks with concern in her heart.

"Will you just leave me alone? No one will understand even if I told you or anyone else! How would you like it if you had to be abandoned by your mother!" Kurt burst at Rogue. Tears were streaming down his face as he tries to control himself. Rogue just stood there with her mouth open but speechless. Upset, Kurt turns and teleported away.

"That was painful…"

Rogue turned around to see Kitty standing from behind. Rogue walked over feeling upset over the matter. "Ah never meant to make him angry…ah am just worried ya know…like a sister." Rogue said with her eyes on the floor.

"I know Rogue, I can't blame you in fact, and we are all worried. Now that Mystique has returned, I…Kurt may be confused…because she's his mother and this is a feeling I can't explain…" Kitty said solemnly. She knew that Kurt is confused about Mystique. Does she love him as a son or what? No one knows for sure except Mystique herself.

As Rogue and Kitty walk away, a figure walks out from behind the wall. Tears streamed down her face as she realizes that Kurt is thinking about her and that she has caused him so much heartache.

"I'm sorry Kurt…for everything…"

**Next Chapter: My name is Star**


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: My name is Star**

In a quiet room lies a girl with starry white long hair in bed. She begins to stir and her eyes flutter open to reveal a pair of beautiful silvery blue eyes. She slowly sits up and rubs her forehead. There was a bandage over her bump…but then something strikes her.

"Where…where am I and what am I doing here?" Peprica asks herself.

Click

The door slowly opens and a young boy comes in with a cup of orange juice, porridge and a banana on a tray.

"Who are you?" Peprica asks sternly.

"Huh!" Jamie shouted out shocked. The tray wobbled and almost slipped his hands. Jamie, embarrassed, regained his balance and placed the tray on the table in front of Peprica. Suddenly, Jamie thought he heard a giggle. He looked up to his Peprica giggling at him. The moment Jamie saw her; he showed a goofy expression on his face.

"Hi, my name is Peprica Star."

Jamie looked up at her and saw her extend her hand out. Jamie hesitated at first then shook her hand. "My name is Jamie, Jamie Madrox." Peprica just smiled sweetly at him and Jamie could not help but stare at her. Her long white starry hair and silvery blue eyes with fairly tanned skin and melodious voice can just make him drool.

"I see you've made a new friend Jamie."

The two turned around to see Storm come in smiling.

"Hello, my name is Ororo Munroe." Storm said as she places her left hand over Jamie's shoulder.

"My name is Peprica Star. You got a unique name there."

"Thank you and you've got a nice name there too Peprica." Storm said

"Why thank you, my mum gave me that name. Uh…where am I exactly?" Peprica ask. Her voice was sweet and innocent and Jamie felt like his heart skipped a beat.

"You're in the Xavier Institute for the Gifted." Jamie replies.

"Oh! The school for mutants! Cool!" Peprica excitedly shouts. This took Jamie and Storm taken aback cause for a second there, they thought she was going to freak out.

"You…you don't think we are freaks?" Jamie asks quietly.

"Huh? Of course not! I think you guys are cool and the things you guys do are just awesome. You know, teaching mutants how to use their powers for good!"

Storm felt that there was hope after all, seeing a young girl like her believing in them. In fact, something about her makes you want to smile and have faith in just everything.

"Hello Peprica."

All turned to see Professor Xavier and Jean come in.

"My name is Xavier Charles, the founder of the Xavier Institute. This is Jean Grey, one of my students."

"How did you know my name?" Peprica asks rather surprised

"Telepathic abilities, that's why." Jean answers.

"How are you feeling now Peprica?" Storm asks

"Better, thank you for aiding me. I do apologize for intruding on your property."

Professor Xavier could tell that the girl is brought up with good manners. He showed a warm smile and then wheeled closer to Peprica. "Tell me, how did you end up here? You seem to have suffered exhaustion and you passed out." Professor Xavier asks concerned.

"I…I can't seem to remember. In fact, I can't remember anything at all." Peprica replies worriedly. "Have I lost my memory!"

Professor Xavier lets out a small laugh followed by Jean and Storm. Jamie just stood there staring at Peprica.

"Well, you just seem to have temporarily lost part of your memory of what happened to you before you passed out. It's natural, even when that blow to your head could have been the reason." Xavier says as Peprica felt her bandage on her head. Peprica then turns to look at Jamie who is still staring at her. Peprica revealed a sweet smile which made Jamie blush deeply.

_Gosh she is pretty!_

Jean turns around to look at Jamie; it seems his thoughts were so loud and anxious that her telepathic ability have seemed to catch it. Now knowing that Jamie has a crush on Peprica, Jean could not help but think that Jamie and Peprica look cute together.

"How old are you Peprica?" Professor Xavier asks.

"13." Peprica answers.

"Hey, same age as me!" Jamie happily replies. Peprica could not help but let out a small laugh to Jamie's enthusiasm. Professor Xavier could sense a small link between Peprica and Jamie. "Do your parents know you are here?" Storm asks. Peprica's smile soon turned into a sad face. "Um…no. My mum passed away five years ago and my dad is in Jail." Peprica replied while looking at her fingers. The whole room fell silent as it was quite sad and Storm could feel that Peprica is embarrassed about her family's background.

"Then where do you stay?" Jean asks.

"I…I stay in the church bell tower." Peprica replies sadly.

"Church tower!" Storm replies concerned, "by yourself?"

"Oh, no…well yeah I made my home there and ring the bell when I need to. It's actually quite nice staying there. Just like the Hunchback of Notredum, (don't know how to spell) it's great there. The priest there wanted me to stay in a proper home like the orphanage but I refused. The air is great, the scenery is beautiful and I have great friends there." Peprica looks up smiling.

Storm and Jean were taken aback by her enthusiasm despite the fact her home is the bell tower. Peprica could sense that they felt sorry for her even if she showed her enthusiasm.

"Don't need to pity me, life is this way. I try to keep myself happy despite I have no family except that my friends are my family." Peprica says as he takes a sip of her orange juice.

"So you don't have any other place?" Professor Xavier asks.

"No, the church is my home." Peprica said as she puts down her cup. "People call me the Blue Angel of the Night."

"Why?" Jamie asks curiously.

"Well, now that I am here, best I show you." Peprica replies.

Peprica got down from her bed and stand on the floor. She closed her eyes and slowly, two blue silvery wings flow out from her back and elegantly spreads out and then folds properly. Not only her wings but her hair turned from starry white to silky deep blue colour. Everyone in the room was amazed at the sight of her beautiful wings and the change of her hair.

"I am also born with Martial arts abilities. The rest of my powers…don't know."

Outside a room door, Rogue stands there, repeatedly knocking on the door. However, Kurt, sitting at his balcony, ignores her and stares outside. Rouge, knowing this won't help decides to just let it go. Just as she was leaving, Jean appears.

"Hey, so, Kurt not coming out?" Jean asks.

"No, ah never meant to hurt his feelings. Now, he won't even talk to me or anyone else." Rogue said with her head down and her eyes on the floor. Jean placed her hand on Rouge's shoulder and looks at the door. "Let him have some time alone, let him cool down a bit. Come on, let's get some dinner." Jean says as she walks away with Rouge.

In the lonely room, Kurt sits on the balcony edge with his eyes closed and his tail swaying from left to right. He felt pain and anger in his heart; he just could not bring himself to forgive anyone, not even Rogue. He felt a spark in him when he told Rogue off and that spark seems to be growing. Feeling he can't take the atmosphere, Kurt teleports away.

Down at the library, the door opens and Jamie and Peprica walk in.

"This is the library; there are tons of books in here."

"Wow, you guys are so fortunate! Do you have fantasy books?" Peprica asks.

"Well, not really, only a few. Why?"

"Ever heard of Beauty and the Beast?"

"Yeah."

"My mum used to read to me that story book, it's my favourite. Every night before I go to sleep, I must read at least one chapter of it. It calms my thoughts down you know." Peprica says as she scans through the shelves.

As Peprica scans through the shelves, Jamie could not help but stare at her. Her long wavy starry white hair tied up in a pony tail with strands of her hair left hanging down. Her eyes reflect different sides of her and show stories of her past life but yet when you are around her, you feel happy and hopeful. Jamie thinks that she herself is purer than anything else.

Out in a quiet park, Kurt walks about by himself and then comes to a stop near the lake. He looks up to see people on rental boats, laughing and talking. However, there is this certain boat that caught his eye. There is a small boy and a mother in it. The boy looked to be no older than 10 years old and the mother looked quite young. They were laughing about and that made Kurt smile a bit.

The sun is slowly descending and Kurt sits by the lake staring at the shimmering waters. Everything else around seems to have melt away as he stares into blank space. Suddenly, something seems to have drawn him out of his empty world. He looked up and turned to his right to see Mystique as Principal Darkholme. He saw her walk down to the other side of the lake and throw crackers into the water for the ducks to eat. Her face expression seems to be sad and hurt. Not knowing why he felt eager to know what is going on, he teleported to behind a tree, behind Mystique and listened closely.

Mystique, not knowing that Kurt was listening poured out everything. Her heart could not contain anything else anymore and she just broke down.

"I am so sorry Kurt, for everything. I never meant to abandon you! I was scared that Magneto might hurt you again…I…I still love you Kurt, I always will. You just don't know how hurt I am…even if I told you right now, you will never believe me, after all the things I have done…I just went crazy, confused, not knowing where my heart lies. Not knowing….is all that I have to say." Mystique said as she threw the bag of crackers on the ground and walked away.

As Mystique walked away, Kurt walked out of hiding and reached for the bag of crackers. He heard it all, all of it. Mystique, his mother still loves him but is it true motherly love? Is she tricking him? Is she up to something?

But then again, should he think of his mother that way?

**Next Chapter: Reflection with the heart**

_**Author: Please review, it will mean a lot to me.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: Reflection with the heart**

A car park outside the Brotherhood's boarding house and Mystique gets out and heads for the door.

"PIETRO!" Wanda screams while walking down the stairs. Wanda is fuming mad as she discovered her brother filled her moisturizer with men's shaving cream. Freddy is in the living room watching cartoons with Lance. Toad is busy drawing a silly face on Pietro's picture. The moment Wanda entered the room, the TV went blank.

"Where is he!" Wanda shouts.

"Who?" Freddy asks letting out a loud burp.

"Pietro! Who else!" Wanda screams. This time, Freddy's cereal blasted right at Toad's face. Toad drops Pietro's picture and the marker and hops up to Wanda.

"Wanda, pumpkin, calm down and relax. Pietro is not here right now so why not you and I watch a movie and let all that tension just fade away?" Toad asks lovingly.

Wanda stares at him for a second.

"Just hope that I don't blast you from the ground into the sky by accident!" Wanda said irritated. From a loving face to a scared face, toad swallowed hard. Just then, they heard the door open. Wanda, at first thought it was Pietro. She stormed over and shouted, "Pietro, I am sick and tired of your pranks and I…" Wanda stopped the moment she knew she was facing Mystique in her normal form. The others were already on their toes, ready to run when Mystique bursts. Wanda, particularly scared said, "Sorry…I thought you were Pietro…"

However, Mystique just continued walking upstairs. Everyone seemed a bit confused on why Mystique did not blow up.

"Gee, something's got her down lately…" Lance said confused.

"You think it's her freaky looking blue elf?" Toad said out loud then let out a small laugh. Slowly, the others backed away as a figure walks up to Toad who apparently does not know that.

"URK!"

Mystique grabbed Toads shirt and lift him upwards with just one hand.

"Don't you dare call my son a Freak! You leave him alone! The next time I catch you making a comment like that, you'd be wishing you never made such comment!" Mystique said and then throws him to Freddy who catches Toad. Mystique then turns around and storms back up the stairs to her room. The others just stood there with their mouths open at the sight of the angry woman. In the distance, Kurt watched the whole thing from a tree.

"It's true, my mother does care about me…she even whammed Toad for insulting me…"

Yes, deep inside, Kurt knew Mystique truly loves him but yet, why does he still want to deny it?

Night time falls and Kurt appears in the middle of his bedroom. He felt happy and yet at the same time, there are other mix feelings inside him he just can't explain. Then, he heard his stomach growl. It seems he hasn't eaten anything since after school. Kurt then ports down to the kitchen where he sees Rogue, Kitty, Jamie and a new girl he hasn't seen before.

Rogue is particularly surprise that Kurt is finally out of his room. There was a moment of silence and the Kurt opened the fridge door.

"Who's he?" Peprica asks.

"Kurt Vagner, he is not usually like this so excuse him." Jamie whispers back.

Rogue looked at Kitty and Kitty signaled Rogue to do what she wants to do. Rogue looked at her cup of water then gathered her strength to go apologize.

"Kurt?"

Kurt turned around to see Rogue behind him but looking at the floor.

"Ah…ah just want to say ah am…sorry for what happened…ah really did not mean anything, ah was just worried ya know." Rogue said. Predicting another cold shoulder, Rogue was surprised when Kurt said, "it's my fault."

"I shouldn't have fired at you like that, you were just being concerned." Kurt said and for once, he smiled. Kurt then turns to the new girl sitting next to Jamie. "Who's she?"

"My name is Peprica and I'm new here." Peprica said happily.

In the middle of the night, Kurt tossed and turns in bed. His mind is in a mess and not at peace. All he could think about is his mother and how he heard everything that she said. Unable to sleep, Kurt gets up and decides to hang at his balcony. Just as he opens his balcony doors, a figure with wings flew by and landed on the second level porch.

"Angel? Is it him?" Kurt wonders. Curious, Kurt ported to the second level porch. However, it was not Angel because; it's a girl with long blue hair.

"Peprica?"

"Huh?" Peprica turns around to see Kurt behind her. "Oh! Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I should be the one asking you." Kurt says as he walks towards her. Peprica is standing on the Stone Railing with great balance. Kurt just stood beside her on the ground.

"So what are you doing here so late? Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Peprica asks

"Nah can't sleep." Kurt says

The wind softly blew against them, making the night cooling. "I usually sleep at 11 so it's nothing unusual. I mostly fly up to the top of the Bell tower and stare out into the night sky and watch the stars." Peprica said as she stretches her wings. Kurt nodded and continues to stare out into the sky. Feeling something is troubling him, Peprica decides to help him out.

"I sense that your mind is troubled, that is why you can't sleep right?" Peprica asks.

"How do you know?" Kurt turns to look at her.

"I can sense these things, I guess so. Anyway, you can tell me anything if you want." Peprica bends down and places her hand on Kurt's shoulder.

The moment Peprica touched Kurt; he felt a cooling and calming sensation flow throughout his body. It felt so angelic, so pure and rich that he felt his mind settling down for once. Kurt looked up and saw her eyes glitter in silvery blue, she truly looked like an angel with her wings elegantly folded.

"You see, Mystique is my mother who lost me when I was a baby. She found me but I was found by another couple. She left me to them and I never knew who she was until much later. But then, she has done a lot of terrible things. She even betrayed Rogue, her foster daughter one too many times and she even hurt me…because I love her so much but sometimes, I can't even bring myself to forgive her." Kurt said and then let out a huge sigh.

Peprica felt sorry for him. She can sense his mind is deeply troubled and all he wants is to have the power to forgive his mother, love her and be with her. But yet, all her wrong doings is against his thoughts of forgiveness.

"Listen, I may be only 13 but I live in a church long enough to learn things on my own and to forgive those that others cannot forgive. When I was 8 years old, my mother died from cancer. I am born in a poor family so life wasn't easy. I am the only child and I had to look after my mother all on my own. I never went to school and I never had any friends. My father is a thief. I knew he was an alcoholic but I never knew he was a thief. He and his gang broke into houses and stole things and then hid it at home in the store room. He never allows me to open the store room because he does not me to find out. He would then sneak the stolen items out to sell so that he could support me and my mother. He's jobless and no matter where he goes, he could never get a job. And then one day, my mother just quietly and peacefully passed away."

As Kurt listened, he could see tears welling up in her eyes. "Suddenly, one day, the police came knocking on the door. They searched the house and found the stolen items. My father was arrested. I love my dad so much and I was shocked he did all this. All along, I thought my dad had a job but it was all a lie. I ran away because the police wanted to take me to an orphanage. I never wanted that…I wanted my dad."

"And then?" Kurt said, eager to know what happens next.

"And then the sky started to cry like tears from my eyes. I was drenched from head to toe. After running for so long, I ended up at the church. The priest and the nuns took me in and they had only one place and that is the bell tower. At first, they wanted me to go to an orphanage with better facilities. But I insisted to stay at the church and make it my home. Then when I turned 10, I found out about my powers." Peprica finished as she wipes away the tears trickling down from her face.

"So…do you still love your father?" Kurt asks with meaning in his heart.

Peprica looks at Kurt with a hopeful smile on her face. "I do. Even though my dad committed many theft crimes, inside, he was confused and not knowing what he will have to face in the future. I don't blame him because it was at that point he did it for me. I still love him and I still wait for the day he will be released. Forgiveness is sometimes hard to find but look inside, under all those doubtful feelings, there is certain flame that would never die out."

"What flame is that?" Kurt asks.

"Love, the Flame of Love. No matter what, this flame will never die out. Even though the one you love has done many wrong doings in her life, deep inside, she may have done it because she was blind and confused. It's difficult to forgive her if you feel that way, I understand. But do this…clear all thoughts, search deep inside your heart and ask yourself, do you forgive her? Do you love her? Do you think that you should give her a second chance to prove herself?" Peprica places her hand on Kurt's head and then turns to the sky. "Do you think she feels happy about thinking that you don't accept her anymore?"

That immediately struck Kurt. All along, he's been concerned about he feels but now, he finally hears that he should consider about how she feels.

"You can correct a mistake; you just have to face all odds to do it." Peprica says. "Think about it, now, I wish to return to my room for a goodnight sleep." With a pat on his head, Peprica leaps into the air and spreads her large wings. She flaps her wings and flew behind the building.

Left on the porch, Kurt sat there and thought about what Peprica had said. She faced so many painful moments but yet, deep inside, she learned how to forgive. For a 13 year old, she knew a lot about life and how to deal with it.

Soon, Kurt felt sleepy. He ports back to his room and lay down in his bed. His heart felt lighter and his mind is more at ease. As each minute passed by, his eye lids were getting heavier and soon, he dozed off into the quiet night.

The next morning, Mystique woke up to a bright and early morning. Though she can hear the birds sing, she felt her heart sink like a stone in water. Wanting a good cup of coffee, she shape shifts into her Principal form and headed for the door.

Down in the kitchen, Wanda is busy fixing breakfast for Freddy. It seems that Freddy caught a terrible flu and since no one here seems to care much, Wanda decided to stay home to look after him. Pietro has already gone off to school with Lance while Toad pours out orange juice into a cup for Wanda to bring to Freddy.

"So you're just going to stay home to look after Freddy?" Toad asks.

"Yes, he's really down with a bad flu and I think I would rather stay home and look after him. This way, I won't have to be worried." This time, you can see the kinder side of Wanda.

"So…if I am sick like Freddy, would you stay home to look after me?" Toad asks cheekily.

Wanda looks at Toad while stiring the pot of oatmeal. "As if!"

Just then Mystique comes down and enters the kitchen. Upon seeing her, Toad hid behind Wanda.

"Morning!" Wanda greets Mystique.

"A cup of coffee please…" Mystique requests as she sat at the table.

Wanda went to the cupboard and took out coffee grains and makes Mystique a cup of coffee.

"I'm going to school first…where I won't get hurt." Toad says. He grabbed his bag and heads out the house.

At school, Mystique is greeted by her students. She kept a fake smile on her face as she walks down the corridors.

BBRRRIIINNGGG!

The students start heading off for class. As Mystique was about to enter her office, her secretary stopped her.

"A boy passed me this letter. He said that it is important that you get it and read it." She said.

Looking at the letter, Mystique saw that it was addressed to her. She took the letter and entered her office. She placed her bag on the floor beside her chair and sat down. Mystique then opens the envelope up and takes out the letter. It was addressed to her from someone she never expected it to be from.

"Kurt!"

**Next Chapter: Can I call you Mother?**

**Author: I really hope that so far, you've enjoyed it. Please, once again, please review. I would really appreciate it. Really, I would. Thank you. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Title: Can I call you Mother?**

"Kurt!"

Mystique was shocked that it was from Kurt. She held onto her seat and slumped into it. Is this what she is hoping for? There is only one way to find out. She unfolds the letter and read it out loud.

_Dear Mystique, _

_I was wondering if you are free after school today. I know you are very busy but it is really important that I see you. There are things I want to talk to you about; I really hope we can meet up. Maybe after that, we can have dinner together? Meet you at the Lakeside, where you were at yesterday. See you there._

_Yours truly,_

_Kurt Vagner _

Mystique finished off the letter with endless thoughts in her head. He wanted to talk to her, and it is important. Kurt also stated that maybe the both of them can have dinner together. Is there finally hope? Has he finally have a change in heart? Or is there something else? But something struck her, how did he know that she was at the lake yesterday? If he was there, did he hear everything she said?

Mystique placed the letter on her table and stared at the letter. Her mind is being raced around with endless thoughts and her heart seems to be very confused. It's hard to explain how she feels but under all those worrying thoughts, she really wants to see Kurt again, no matter what. Mystique then gets up and walks out of her office. She opens her door and spoke to her secretary. "Allison, cancel all meetings today, I got something very important to do."

"Yes ma'am." Allison replies.

Mystique then re-enters her office and stared outside her large window and then at the clock. Right now, she wishes that time would fly by as fast as it can.

In a small classroom, a teacher captures the class attention as she points them out about the cause of World War II. However, there is this certain mutant in the class that doesn't seem to pay attention at all.

Kurt looks out the window, thinking about what will happen when he meets up with his mother. Would sparks of fury fly? Would things work out smoothly or would the road to forgiveness start out as a rocky journey?

Back at the Institute, the X-kids were being home schooled but since because Jean and Scott have to settle some things for professor Xavier and Logan is out to check Juggernaut, they had Storm only. However, Storm decided to go easy on them and let them do what they want, as long as they don't destroy anything.

"I'm going to cook lunch so all of you can do whatever you want as long as you don't destroy anything. Got it?" Storm asks.

"You bet!" Bobby said giving a thumbs up. After Storm enters the mansion, the kids were out doing their own things.

"Man….isn't this great? Bobby asks.

"No Jean, Scott or Logan and Beasts are still doing some research! And Storm rocks!" Jubilee shouted.

"Yeah, now we can have the day off!" Roberto exclaims.

Peprica stands among them not knowing why they were so happy. "Why are you guys celebrating? Doesn't training help you to be more prepared for the future?" Peprica asks.

Jamie, Bobby and the rest of the X-kids look at her with an awkward face on their face. Then all of a sudden, they burst out laughing.

"Umm, maybe you don't know the rest of the Professors well enough to know." Jamie replies.

"Jean and Scott are like the nerd couple. They are super smart and they excel in training. Jean trains us to be academically well while Scott makes sure we work well as a team during battle training. Logan…well, he is okay cause he let's us use our powers to fight but he does push hard on us during battle training too." Amara says as she lights up her hands in flames.

"Scott's not as harsh as Logan but sometimes, Scott tends to extend training hours. Logan disappear at times…Beast, well, actually, he teaches us chemistry and other subjects like Literature and English. Some of us find it boring but Chemistry is cool." Bobby says.

Peprica looks at them in an awkward way. "I haven't seen Scott but Jean is really nice and she's seems very elegant and decent. I don't think there is anything wrong with teaching and trying to get you guys to do well academically."

"But it gets boring you know and we kids just want to have fun." Jubilee says.

"Jean and Scott are like the perfect nerd couple, definitely fit for one another." Ray says as he laughs.

"Wouldn't it be cool if summer holidays were extended for another month?" Bobby laughs.

While the others are laughing, Peprica feels upset. All her life, she always wanted to attend school and now, these kids who got everything are talking bad about their teachers. Don't they know that these teachers are striving to make them understand about the world today?

"How can talk about them like that? There could be other reasons why they are together and you guys don't even know it! Besides, just be happy you even have school! All my life, I have never been to a school and today, I feel happy to even be in one even if I have not learnt anything yet! Just be happy that Jean, Scott and all the other professors are even bothered to teach you! They could just dump you guys aside and not even care!"

The others stood there quiet speechless. They could see tears coming out of Peprica's eyes. Her face displayed desire of a wish but that wish never came true. Her eyes glittered as the tears welled up and trickled down her face. Peprica then wipes her tears away and tries to keep her anger and pain inside but the more she thinks of it, the more she wanted to cry her heart and soul out.

"My parents never could get a steady job and they couldn't send me to school. Everyday, I look out onto the streets to see little boys and girls happily strolling with books in their hands. Do you know how much I would love to have those books in my arms? And in school, you get to have friends whereas I don't have any! The only friends I have are the people at the church and the sparrows that live in the Bell tower, you guys just don't know how fortunate you are."

Upset, Peprica turned away crying and walked towards the mansion leaving the others behind.

As Peprica entered the mansion, Storm walked past her and saw that she was crying.

"Peprica? What's wrong?" Storm asks.

Peprica stops halfway up the stairs and realizes Storm caught her crying. She quickly wipes her tears away and tries to put on a smile. Peprica turns around and brushes her silky hair aside.

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all. Just got something in my eye. Thank you for asking." With that, Peprica turned around and continued walking up the stairs.

Storm looks at Peprica feeling worried. Storm could see she was pretending to be happy but deep down, she's hurting. Storm then turns her sight towards the X-kids who were walking back from the outside. She could see their faces showed regrets but she doesn't know what happened. All of them just headed to the kitchen, not uttering a word or sentence. That is something new.

End of a dreading school day arrives and the kids are happy to return home. However, there is this one person who is not willing to go home just yet. He turned towards the car park to see the Principal's Car not there. He thought that she must have driven off to meet him.

"Kurt!"

Kurt turns around to see Rogue running towards him.

"Hey, come on! Storm's making Lasagna back at home, let's go! Lance is giving us a lift." Rouge smiled as she placed her hand on Kurt's shoulder.

"Um…later, I got to meet someone somewhere." Kurt said uneasily knowing Rogue won't be very happy to know what he is actually doing.

"Oh, alright then, see you later then!" Rogue pat his back and then walks off. Kurt looked back at Rogue a bit surprised. "She seems happy?" Kurt says as he walks off.

At the Lakeside, Mystique as Principal Darkholme form sits on the bench and stares at the water feeling quite uneasy. What is she going to say to him when she sees him? What would she do? Would he still consider her his mother? Is he actually here to talk about one another or what? Mystique's mind is so full of endless train of thoughts that she doesn't know that Kurt is standing behind her.

"Mys…Mystique?" Kurt says.

However, Mystique is too busy thinking that she doesn't hear Kurt calling her. Kurt then places his hand on her shoulder. The moment Mystique comes back to her senses, she sees Kurt's reflection in the water. She immediately gets up as Kurt took one step back.

"Kurt! Oh…sorry, I was…in such deep thought that I didn't hear you." Mystique said with her heart beating faster than anything else. To her, this is it; this is the time she should let him know what has always been in her heart. If she misses this chance, it will be even harder the next time.

The two just stared at one another for a while, a moment of silence. Then Mystique decides to take the first step. "Kurt…I know…you must be thinking why I am here…as Principal…I…I am not here to do anything for Magneto or cause any trouble. I'm just here for my job…you know." Mystique stopped for a second, taking in a deep breathe.

Kurt himself could see and feel how much his mother is trying but he just keep quiet and listens to what she has to say. Deep down this time, all he wants his to hug his own mother and be with her. He had time to think of what Peprica said and under all that soul searching, he finally realized that he will forgive her because he loves her, his mother.

"I never meant to…well…I just…I just want you…back, to have your trust is all I want. I know that…after all I have done, it's impossible to trust me again and I…" Mystique slowly trailed off, feeling that nothing she would say would convince him.

Kurt looks at his mother and takes a few steps towards her. Mystique face was down, her eyes to the ground, frightened of what he might say. "The reason why I ask you to meet me here is because an angel talked to me about the Story of Forgiveness." Kurt calmly says.

Mystique looks up when she heard the word 'forgiveness'. She could see a smile spread across his face.

"Can I call you mother?"

Mystique eyes shot open with a shock. Her heart leaped with joy when she heard this and unexpectedly, Kurt runs and hugs her. Her heart is warmed with her son's love as he hugs her. Tears slowly trickled down her cheek as she hugs him back.

"Yes, yes you can. Oh Kurt, you can always call me mother and I don't care at all…you don't know how long I hope to hear you say that…" Mystique said as she hugs Kurt back tight, never wanting him to leave her again.

"I thought I would never be forgiven and I don't care if others don't forgive me or even accept me. It's you I want…" Mystique said crying her happiness out.

Kurt then looks up and sees Mystique smiling and wiping her tears away. Kurt then switches his image inducer off and his real form is revealed. "You know, I got your eyes and skin." Kurt says tryingly.

Mystique let out a small laugh of happiness. For once in her life, she has finally something far more worth than gold or any jewel or diamond in the world.

Mystique finally has her son…who has finally called her mother.

Kurt then looks up and turns his image inducer back on and smiles sweetly as his mother who loves him dearly. "I love you mum, forever and ever." Kurt says as Mystique places her hand on Kurt's cheek, feeling his fur. The Kurt returns a warm hug. Nothing could make Kurt any happier than to finally have his mother.

"Love you too son." Mystique whispered but enough for Kurt to hear.

In the distance, a pair of teary silvery blue eyes of a girl watches them as her deep sea blue coloured hair flows gently in the wind. With a flap of her slivery blue wings, she flies off into the sunset sky.

**Next chapter: A Story of a Girl **


	6. Chapter 6

**Title: A Story of a Girl **

A man dressed in black leather pants and tight black shirt enters the chat room in Prison. Another man present in the chat room is dressed in an orange prison uniform. The man dressed in black pulls out a chair in front of the other man as the guard closes the room.

"So how's it going buddy? Love the new place you live in." Said Rafiko with a smirk on his face.

The other man looked up with anger but yet tiredness in his eyes. "What do you want?" Ben asks. Rafiko looked at him and rapped his fingers on the table. "What I want? You know what I want."

"You took everything away from me Raf, what else do I have to give? Look at this place you put me in." Ben said as he looks at his hands handcuffed.

"Don't give me that Benny boy; you still got one item left." Rafiko said as he let out a sigh.

"I don't know what you are talking about Rafiko, I have nothing left! You took everything away from me. My wife is gone and so is my daughter!" Ben shouted out.

Ben got a bit taken aback at first then finally understood. Ben lets out a small laugh and a grin appeared on his face. "You think you're daughter is dead?" Rafiko laughs.

At that moment, Ben felt a tingling sensation in his body. "My…my daughter…she's not…dead?" Ben mutters.

Rafiko looks at him and shakes his head indicating that Ben's daughter is still alive. "Where is she! I want to see her!" Ben stood up with anxiety. His heart is beating faster and faster, thinking that after all these years, his precious little girl, Peprica, is still alive!

"She's…somewhere but that is not what I came here for. Benny boy, remember you told me that before your mother died, she handed a family gift?" Rafiko said.

"A family gift? What…no…" Ben said as he slowly sat down. "Ah…so know you remember. I want to know where it is." Rafiko said.

"I…I don't have it. I lost it a long time ago." Ben said looking away. Ben now regrets ever telling Rafiko about the Eagle's eye. The Eagles eye is the most precious thing and rarest diamond in the world. It was his mother who found it and passed it down to him.

"Don't lie Ben, you know where it is." Rafiko said impatiently.

"Why should I tell you? You've betrayed us all! What about Rick? Denny? The rest? You sold them out! One by one! I should have known it was you!" Ben shouted out loud.

Rafiko slowly got up and ginned. "Crime doesn't pay my friend and that's why I decided to abide by it."

"By selling us out!" Ben shouted.

"If you don't tell me where it is, maybe your daughter will…" Rafiko trailed off as he headed for the daughter.

This struck Ben in the heart. Not wanting his daughter to be put in danger, Ben got up and points his finger at Rafiko. "Don't you dare hurt my daughter! If anything happens to her, I'll hunt you down even if it takes the rest of my life!" Ben cried out.

"Sorry, I don't make promises." Rafiko said. He opened the door and left leaving Ben slumping back into the wooden chair. "No…leave her alone…" Ben mutters with tears trickling down his cheek.

The next morning, Peprica, dressed in a long teddy bear night dress, walks down the stairs with her white hair uncombed. It's only 4am and she couldn't sleep in. Everyone in the house is sleeping peacefully except Peprica.

She headed to the kitchen and switched on the lights. She walked over to the fridge and took out a carton of milk. She took out a cup and poured milk into it. Her dreams keep on preventing her from having a good sleep. How she wished she could talk to Jamie about it.

Peprica let out a heavy sigh and just sat there staring at the cup. She remembered it was on a rainy day that her life turned upside down.

_Flashback_

_Dingdong!_

"_I'll get it!" said a girl. Her white hair is tied up in a ponytail. There in one corner, a man sits on a chair reading the newspaper. The girl walked over to the door and opened it to see three policemen standing there._

"_Officer Bailey Miss. Is Mister Ben Star here?" Officer Bailey asked._

"_Y…yes, my father is here." The girl said._

_The girl opened the door wider and let the policemen in. As soon as the man in the chair saw them, he immediately got up and dumps the newspaper on the chair._

"_How can I help you officers?" The man asks._

"_Search the place!" Officer Bailey ordered. At once, the two policemen entered the rooms of the house. Shocked, the man shouted._

"_What are you doing! What reason do you have of searching my house?" The man shouted out loud. Frightened, the girl stood behind her father._

_Just before Office Bailey could answer, one of his men found the stash. "Sir, we found the stolen goods!"_

_The man was shocked as Officer Bailey turned to look at him. "Mister Ben Star, you are under arrest for multiple theft crimes!"_

"_Dad, what's going on!" The girl asks. But her dad did not answer but allow the policemen to handcuff him. Being too ashamed to face his daughter, the man walked out with the two other officers. Officer Bailey then turns to the girl and reaches for her. "Come, we will put you in a good home."_

_The girl takes one step back and yells at him. "NO! I want my dad! What did you accuse him for stealing?" _

"_Your father is a criminal child; he has broken into houses and stole items. Now if you please, we will have to put you into a proper home till things have settled down. Maybe you will be adopted into a better family." Said Officer Bailey as he reaches for the girl. _

_The girl quickly dodges him and runs out of the house into the rain._

_End of flashback_

"No…daddy…" Peprica buries her face in her hands as she tries to forget that memory. It wasn't easy for her then when she entered the church. She stayed all by herself in the bell tower and at that time, she was afraid of being alone. But after seeing that the church has nothing to be afraid off, she wasn't afraid anymore. Tears slowly seep from her closed eyes as the wounds in her heart widened and deepen. How she wished she could forget everything within a snap of her fingers.

From outside the kitchen, behind the wall, Storm overheard Peprica crying. At first, Storm got up from bed to get a glass of water but when she saw Peprica crying, she decided not to enter.

Storm could feel the way Peprica felt, the pain inside Peprica is horrible and no one would understand it. Storm then turns to head back to her room, feeling that it is best to leave Peprica alone knowing that Peprica won't want anyone to see her crying.

8am and Professor Xavier enters the kitchen to have a cup of coffee. However, he wasn't alone. In the kitchen, a girl sits on the chair with her face resting on her arms on the table fast asleep.

Professor Xavier wheeled up to her and realizes it's Peprica that is fast asleep. Not wanting the other students to find her still sleeping in the kitchen, he telepathically wakes her up.

_Peprica? Time to wake up._

Peprica stirs and then lifts her head up to see Professor Xavier smiling at her.

"Good morning Peprica." Professor Xavier says.

"Oh, good morning Professor…" Peprica takes a quick look around and realizes that she is still in the kitchen since 4am in the morning. "Heh…looks like I fell asleep in the kitchen." Peprica nervously replies.

Professor Xavier laughs and then went to get a cup of coffee. "What are you doing down here if I may ask Peprica?"

"Huh? Oh, I…just had a rough night so I came down here. Couldn't sleep in…" Peprica said quietly.

Professor Xavier looks at her and sense trouble in her mind. "You know, you can talk to me anytime if you need help."

Peprica understood that Professor Xavier is feeling troubled. "I…always wanted to visit my dad but…never could. My father doesn't know I'm alive…" Peprica said with sadness in her voice. Professor Xavier felt shock that not even her dad knows she's alive.

"Have you tried writing to him?" Professor Xavier said. Peprica looks up at him knowing he doesn't know exactly what is going on.

"On the day I ran away, the police were out to find me but I hid in a ship. And I was unknowingly shipped to Hawaii. That is where I live." Peprica said, trying to hide her fear.

"You were shipped all the way to Hawaii and not even say a word about it?" Professor Xavier said stunned. Peprica nods her head. There are so many things about her that not many know.

"When I ran away, the police were on the search for me. They wanted me to have a better home as they fear I might learn from my dad. I…I ran to the docks and persuaded the sailors who were sailing to Hawaii to let me board. They…they felt sorry for me and allowed me to go with them. That…that is how…I landed up living in Hawaii and in the church."

Her story was sad and confusing as Professor Xavier felt. Peprica then got up and puts her empty cup in the sink then sat back down. "I've been thinking…I think I should go back to Hawaii."

A moment of silence

"I'm still thinking about it though…thank you Professor…for letting me into your home." Peprica said as she got up and walked out of the kitchen.

Just then, Storm walks in.

"Good morning Charles." Storm said as she made herself some tea.

"Good morning Ororo," Professor Xavier said but still looking at where Peprica sat.

"I overhead that Peprica feels like returning home?" Storm asks as she sits at where Peprica sat.

"I can sense that she doesn't feel like she belongs here Ororo, to be frank." Professor Xavier said.

"Yesterday, I think Peprica had a conflict with the New Mutants. She came in crying but she tried to hide it from me. Apparently, I think she won the argument, the others came in totally silent, not like always." Storm said as she took a sip of her tea.

Professor talked to Storm all about what Peprica told him. She just sat there with pain in her heart, not knowing how much Peprica went through. After everything has been said, all Storm could say is, "Poor child…"

**Next Chapter: Don't leave**

**Author: Okay, I know it's nothing much but it's just basically about Peprica. I really tried my best for this chapter because this is all I could think of. Sweat drop Well, the next chapter may be short or long so let me just let you know first.**

**Anyway, Please Review! It will mean a lot to me! By the way, those who have reviewed my story, thank you so much! It has really inspired me to carry on and I hope you guys will continue to read my story and review it. Well, I can't force but I just hope that is all. Anyway, thanks again even if I only had three reviews, it meant a lot to me. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Title: Don't leave**

"NO!"

Storm and Professor Xavier turned to see Jamie standing at the entrance with a shocked look on his face.

"Peprica's leaving!"

"Well, she feels like it but she's not sure yet." Professor Xavier said. Jamie's eyes looked down at the floor. He couldn't afford to let Peprica just leave like that, he didn't want her to leave. Jamie didn't know why he wanted her to stay but if Peprica leaves, he would feel very unhappy.

"It's up to her Jamie; let her decide on her own." Storm said as she pours more tea into her cup from the tea pot.

"But she can't leave! I mean…don't you think she should learn to master her powers?" Jamie said, trying to make up a good excuse to make Peprica stay.

"I really would want her to stay but we cannot force her Jamie." Professor Xavier says as he finishes his cup of coffee.

Knowing that it is all up to Peprica, Jamie decides to look for her. He quickly turns but accidentally knocks right into the wall. Jamie falls to the ground and multiplies five of himself.

Jamie gets up and retracts all his replicas. Storm and Professor Xavier looks at him and laughs out loud. "Heh…didn't see it coming…" Jamie shamefully replies and walks out the kitchen.

"Stupid kitchen wall…" Jamie mutters as he walks up the stairs rubbing his head.

"I think our Jamie here has a crush on Peprica." Storm says laughing away.

"Even without my telepathy, it's obvious that Jamie really wants her to stay." Professor Xavier says.

Dashing through the corridors, Jamie looks back and then in front. Kitty stepped out of her room and the moment Jamie turns back, Kitty is right in front of him.

"AHH!" Jamie and Kitty screamed. Kitty made herself phase through the running Jamie. Not stopping, Jamie yelled back, "Sorry Kitty!" After disappearing around a corner, Kitty scratched her head and continued walking.

In a lonely room, Peprica stands at her balcony with the wind blowing lightly against her. She's been thinking lately and deep down, she wants to stay but Peprica thinks that the others won't accept her.

"No one knows what I've been through…" Peprica says as she stares out into the sky. She wants to stay but then again, she feels like leaving. Here, she's been given a home to stay but at the Bell tower, that is where her real home is. "Argh…I don't know which is my home anymore!" Peprica said as she brushes her hair aside.

"Knock, Knock?"

Peprica turned around to see Jamie standing at her room doorway. "Can I come in?" Jamie asks. Peprica turns and faces Jamie from her balcony. "Just shut the door when you come in." Said Peprica smiling.

From Jamie's view, the sun is shinning down on her and she looked like an angel from that point of view. That sight took Jamie's breath away. Jamie tucks his hands in his pocket and walked over to Peprica and the two stared out into the sky. Then, Jamie gathered the courage to tell her what he heard.

"I heard…you're moving back?" Jamie said with an unhappy tone in his voice.

Peprica looked up with her eyes wide open. "Who told you that?"

"I…sort of overheard." Jamie said scratching his head looking away from her.

Peprica then settles down and looks back at the sky. "I really don't know Jamie…I…my home is at the bell tower but yet my heart is split into two. The professor has been very kind into letting my stay in his house and he even gave me a room. It's like a home and now, I have two homes and I don't even know where to go."

Jamie cocked his head to Peprica's side and sees how lost she is. Her eyes could really tell a lot about how she felt; it's like a window into her soul. "Well…the others didn't mean to well…talk like that about the Professors. I mean, they were just fooling around. They really didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"My feelings? It's not my feelings that are the reason why I am angry at them. Its how they don't appreciate others you know? I mean, even if they think Jean and Scott is the perfect nerd couple, I don't think it was very nice. Don't get me wrong, I am not angry at them because they hurt my feelings; I am only upset that they don't know how fortunate they are to have a good home, school and great teachers." Peprica said as she uses her finger to twirl her white hair.

As she played around with her hair, Jamie realized that Peprica was right. Then, Peprica looks down at the ground and lets out a heavy sigh. "Now, I believe they don't even want to talk to me…"

"Wait, that's not true Peprica, I mean, well, they don't hate you. I mean…" Peprica cuts him off by growing out her wings. "Look, I am going out for a while, see you later. Bye!"

Peprica climbed onto the balcony's edge and leaped into the air. She spread out her wings and flies away into the sunset. Jamie just watched from a distance feeling pretty down.

Later in the afternoon, down in the living room, Kurt is busy surfing the net on his laptop while Kitty is watching Everybody Loves Raymond. Just then, Rogue comes in screaming in joy!

"AHHHH!" Rogue screams, so unlike her for once.

Kitty and Kurt turned around to see Rogue jumping around in happiness. Rouge then jumps onto the couch and sits in between Kitty and Kurt.

"Guess what? Remy just wrote me a letter! Yesterday, ah met him outside the school before ah went to look for you Kurt, and he gave me a letter! He told me not to open it till now!" Rogue said happily. She and Remy have been quite close together and the both of them would talk on the phone for hours unless Kitty tells her to get off.

"Well? What are you waiting for! Open it!" Kitty said excitedly. "Yeah, get on with it!" Kurt said.

Rouge ripped the envelope open and took out a letter. She opened it and read it out loud.

_Dear Rouge,_

_Remy has been thinking a lot about you lately and I cannot take my mind off you. _

Rouge stops reading half way and looks at Kurt and Kitty being totally engrossed in the letter. Rouge then folds the letter back up and gets up from the couch.

"Maybe ah I should read it alone. See ya!" And for that, Rogue headed off to her room.

"Thank for killing the joy!" Kurt shouted.

"Aww…it was getting good, just right after the first sentence!" Kitty exclaimed.

Kurt and Kitty then went back to what they were doing before.

While surfing the net, Kurt found out that a carnival is coming in last minute three days later. "Hey Kitty! There's a carnival coming!" Kurt exclaims. However, Kitty is already absorbed by the show that she didn't hear Kurt at all. After thinking about it, Kurt felt that instead of letting the others know, he might as well use this chance to hang out with his mother. Hey, it was only yesterday that they finally had one another.

Kurt then teleports to his room leaving Kitty behind, still absorbed by the show.

In the room, Kurt looks through the website about the carnival. It seems that it is last minute but hey, it has a merry-go-round, bumper cars, a magic show and all sorts of fun things. He made a booking for tickets and then typed out a letter for his mother.

Over at the Brotherhood Boarding house, Kurt rings the doorbell and Toad answers the door.

"What do ya want blue fur ball?" Toad says.

"Is my mother home?" Kurt asks.

Toad grins and then says, "Lemme check it out." After that, Toad slams the door in Kurt's face. From outside, Kurt could hear Wanda yelling at Toad. Then he hears a loud thud sound and Wanda opens the door. "Is…my mother there?" Kurt asks, hoping not to get hit by her hex beam.

"Hey Kurt, I am sorry but she isn't in right now. She left to attend a staff meeting back in school. Need me to pass a message?"

"Umm…could you pass this to her?" Kurt said as he passes a sealed envelope to Wanda. "It's important that she gets it." Wanda looks at the letter and smiles. "Sure, I'll make sure she gets it."

"Thank you."

"No problem and one more thing, can you tell Kitty that Lance wants his sweater back?" Wanda says.

"Alright, see ya."

Wanda closes the door and looks at the letter. She heads to the stairs and passes by the living room. In the living room, Freddy is well already and is watching cartoons while Toad is tied to the chair with an apple in his mouth. Upstairs, Wanda slides the letter underneath Mystique's door.

Back at the institute, Jamie, with his head hung low walks back to his room which he is currently sharing with Bobby. It seems that Bobby's room water pipe burst and is currently being fixed. Jamie plops onto his bed and thinks whether he should tell the others. Just then, Bobby comes in after a nice good shower.

Bobby turns to see Jamie is on his bed feeling pretty upset.

"Hey man, what's up with you?" Bobby said as he hangs his towel around his neck. Jamie turns over to look at Bobby and then got up.

"Peprica is thinking of leaving the institute back home." Jamie said softly.

"What? Why?" Bobby said astonished.

Jamie looks down at his shoes and nervously replies. "She thinks that you guys don't like her after what happened that day."

Bobby was taken aback for a while, all of them thought she didn't like them and didn't care. It was a total misunderstanding.

"No, I thought she is angry with us…we like her as a friend." After thinking for a while, Bobby grabs Jamie by the arm and leads him out of the room.

"Where are you taking me? Peprica just left if you are intending to see her; she went out for a flight." Jamie says.

"We're going to round up the others and I think we should make it up to Peprica. Besides, I think we should have considered her feelings and that it was wrong for us to make fun of the professors." Bobby said, still dragging Jamie.

A door opens and Mystique steps in. She sees a letter under her door and picks it up. A face broke into a smile as she finds out it is from her son. Life seems to turn for the better for Mystique.

At the same time, Peprica is at the park on top of the monkey bar. Her thoughts were deep and she doesn't seem to know that the kids in the park are starting to run off. Something or someone scared them off and not even she hears their screaming. The shadow slowly creeps up behind Peprica.

**Next Chapter: Facing the enemy**

**Author: Thank you rogue-scholar07 for your review, it was really nice of you. You really made my day. This is a special thank to you and all those that have reviewed my story. Haha…I know I am making a big deal out of this but I am excited about this I guess. Very embarrassed right now…**


	8. Chapter 8

**Title: Facing the enemy**

The shadow slowly creeps up behind a figure that is in deep thought. The gun is shifted towards her back and before that, a young girl screamed out a piercing scream that the man got shocked and carelessly drops his gun. Peprica turns around and she receives a whack against her body. With the hard whack, Peprica falls to the ground with a loud thud. All the kids huddled towards one side frightened.

The figure then descends to the ground and picks up his gun. Peprica looks up and brushes her hair aside and crawls towards the bench and tries to get up. Just as she got up, she felt a strong arm grab her two arms and lift her up in the air.

"LET ME GO!" Peprica shouted loudly as she tried to struggle free from the grip. With that, Peprica gets flunked to the ground.

"Where is the Eagle's eye?" The man said with deep greediness in his voice.

Peprica slowly crawls towards a tree and pulls herself up. Then, the man turns her around and presses her against the tree with his hand on her shoulder and the other hand pointing his gun at her. Peprica places her two hands on his arm that is pressing her against the tree and tries to break free.

"I'm asking you a question, where's the Eagle's eye?" The man said. His face is covered by a mask so Peprica couldn't see who it is but she found his voice very familiar.

"Unnhh! I don't know what you are talking about! But I do know I am not going to stay here and face you! Take this Creep! HI-YAH!" Peprica then kicks his where the sun don't shine and immediately, the man let's go, freeing her to fight.

The man backs up and drops his fun and falls to the ground. Peprica then balances herself and rubs her shoulder. She then looks up and ties up her hair quickly in a ponytail. The man reaches for his gun and gets up. Now, it's a face off between a mutant and an unknown person who she has no idea what he's talking about.

The man then aims his gun at her and one last time, ask her the same question. "Where is the Eagle's eye?" The man said.

"Listen, I have no idea what you are talking about! But even so, I will not let you go so easily!" Peprica then runs forward and the man fires an energy beam at her. But before the beam hit her, Peprica leaps high into the air and then kicks him to the ground.

The man falls to the ground and Peprica lands behind him. The kids behind her were speechless, seeing something they have never seen before.

The man gets up and faces Peprica, getting ready to fight again. He takes his gun and aims for her again but then, something hit his gun and freezes up. In shock, he drops his gun onto the grass. He looks up to see mutants from the Xavier Institute standing with the kids. Jubilee, Amara and Bobby stands ready while Jamie and Sam take the kids to safety. Ray and Roberto runs over to Peprica and stand beside her, ready to attack.

"Who wants popsicles!" Bobby shouted out like an ice cream man.

Amara's hands light up with fire while Jubilee's hands have sparks surrounding her hands.

"Still want to play?" Amara hissed.

"Lookie, it's eight against one, wow, now do you think we should even the odds or continue?" Peprica says.

The man backs up a bit knowing he is out matched against the mutants. With that, he presses a button on his watch and he blasts off into the sky.

Mystique opens the envelope and reveals a letter. She unfolds the letter and sits on her bed.

_Dear mother,_

_A carnival is coming in three days from tomorrow; do you wish to join me? It could be a great time to spend with one another. I hope you are not busy because I do want to have some mother and son time. This way, it would be better for us to communicate. Let me know as soon as possible so I can purchase tickets for us._

_Love,_

_Kurt (Son)_

Mystique smiles with happiness knowing how much her son wants to reconnect with her again. It is like any mother's wish to keep in touch with their children through thick and thin. Mystique felt like the luckiest mother in the world to have a son like Kurt. Though they are separated, she knows that Kurt will always have her in his heart.

Mystique then opens her bedside drawer, puts the letter back into the envelope and places it in the drawer. After closing it, Mystique walks over to the window and opens the window to let the evening breeze come in. She looks out into the evening sky that is setting in, guessing that life has turned for the better, especially when the one she loves is right by her side.

Back at the institute, Peprica arrives and made a deal with the New Mutants not to let a word out about the fight back at the park. After dinner, Peprica goes up and takes a bath.

After a good bath, Peprica heads down to the living room where she sees the New Mutants watching Mr. Bean. Jamie sees her and just as Ray is about to sit down next to him, Jamie pushes him away.

"AHH!" Ray then falls on top of Roberto causing the popcorn to fly like chickens.

"My popcorn!" Roberto shouts.

"My back!" Ray shouts as he rolls onto the floor.

"Keep it down!" Amara says with her sight focused on the TV.

Jamie brushed the seat next to him and Peprica sat down next to him. "Hey, chips?" Jamie asks a bit nervous. Peprica looks at the bowl of chips then looks up at Jamie and smiles.

"Sure."

Peprica grabs a handful of chips and one by one eats them. "Soo…thank anyway, for rescuing me."

"It was nothing, hey; we friends got to stick together. It was all of us that scared him off." Bobby said

Peprica then felt a lift of weight from her heart. "All of you came down for me? And after all I have said; you guys still consider me your friend?"

The others turned around and looked at Peprica. "You were right and we were wrong, after thinking much about what you said, we think we should appreciate our teachers more." Amara says as she stuffed some popcorn into her mouth.

"Hey, we have our differences and we shouldn't let that put us on a battle field." Sam said.

Peprica's eyes were shimmering as tears welled up, she never felt so happy in her life. After her shouting at them, they still stuck up for her. Jamie took a tissue and gives it to Peprica. She wipes away her tears and then looks up.

"Now I know I won't have to face any enemy alone because I've got you guys." Peprica says. All of the X-kids smiled as they resumed back to watching their comedic show. Outside the living room, Professor Xavier smiles.

Upstairs, Kurt is walking towards the bathroom with his towel and nightclothes in his hand. Just then, Kitty exits the bathroom with her towel around her shoulders. Just as she walks past, Kurt suddenly realizes what Wanda told him.

"Kitty!" Kurt said.

Kitty turned around and replies, "yeah?"

"Lance wants his sweater back from you. That is all." After that, Kurt walks into the bathroom.

Kitty stood at the spot feeling uneasy. She then runs back to her room to see Rogue on her bed, reading Remy's letter over and over again.

"Rogue! You've got to help me!" Kitty pleads as she jumps onto Rouge's bed. Rogue puts the letter aside and looks at Kitty with a confused look on her face.

"Ah? You need help from me?" Rouge said. Then, Rogue bursts out laughing and slaps her hand on her forehead.

"What!" Kitty shouts irritated.

"This is like the first time ah hear you say you need mah help, ah mean, you always seem to have things under your control and you never really like to ask for help…especially in cooking!" Rouge laughs out loud.

Kitty looks at Rouge feeling irritated. Then, Kitty takes the pillow and starts whacking Rogue.

"Hey! AH! Ah said…hey! Alright! Alright! Ah will cut it out if it makes you happy!" Rouge said shielding herself from the pillow.

Kitty then puts the pillow down and sits on Rouge's bed, hugging her knees. Rouge first puts away her precious letter then settles down.

"Okay, what help do ya need?" Rouge says.

Kitty softly bites her lip and then looks up at Rouge. "You see, Lance wants his sweater back…but umm…it kinda got in an accident…"

Rogue tilts her head one side and looks at her. "It's completely wrecked right?" Kitty lets out an uneasy smile and looks at Rouge. "More like burnt…?"

Rogue looks at Kitty for a second and Kitty looks at Rouge for a second and then, Rouge bursts out laughing again.

Again, Kitty got irritated and reaches for Rouge's pillow. Quickly, Rouge lay on her pillow. "Alright, okay, fine! Continue."

Kitty looks at Rouge and then continues her story. "I was trying to whip up a delicious fried chicken. Feeling warm, I took of Lance's sweater. He lent me his because I forgot to bring mine and I was freezing cold in the auditorium. Anyway, I was stupid to leave the sweater near the frying pan and you can guess what happens next."

"Ouch…" Rouge says.

Kitty then grabbed Rouge's pillow and stuffs her face in it. Then she lifts her head out and looks at Rouge. "What am I to do! I can't let Lance know or he will never talk to me ever again!" Kitty says and then stuffs her face back into the pillow again. Then she lifts her head up again and says, "I'm Doomed!" Then back into the pillow again.

Rouge looks at Kitty who looks so stressed out. "Why not just buy a new one?" Rouge asks.

Kitty looks at Rouge and frowns. "Logan is coming back tomorrow and Professor Xavier is going out of town for just two days…sigh he won't let me go out. He would want to run Danger Room Sessions for the next few days…I don't think I can come up with a good excuse to cover up the days…"

"Oh…why not just tell Lance the truth, ah am sure he won't be upset." Rouge said, trying to lighten Kitty up.

Kitty looks at her and then Rouge shrugs, "okay, maybe he will get upset."

Moment of silence...

"Maybe very upset, but a couple of days of not talking to you isn't that bad right?" Rogue says.

Kitty looks at her and then lets out a loud wail.

From downstairs, Ray could hear someone wailing. He looks up at the ceiling and says, "Who's watching Cry of the Banshees?"

**Next chapter: Bad day**

**Author: Sorry but anyway, here's the story! I don't know if it is any good but the next chapter is mostly about Kitty having a bad day. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Title: Bad Day**

Logan is sitting in the kitchen drinking is cup of coffee and reading the morning papers as usual. Suddenly, Kitty phases through the kitchen doors and skids to a stop in front of the fridge. Kitty quickly swung the fridge door open and grabbed a carton of milk and a cup from the cupboard. She pours the milk in, gulps it all down and took two muffins from the pantry.

"You're late…" Logan said without looking up.

"Bye!" Kitty shouted as she phases out and through the kitchen door.

"…for your class." Logan finished.

Just then, Storm walks in with Beast. Upon seeing Logan, the both of them greeted him good morning.

"Morning Logan." Storm said as she pulled out a chair and sat down.

"How's Juggernaut?" Beast said as he makes himself a cup of hot chocolate.

"Fine…everything's fine. Anything I need to know?" Logan says.

Just then, Professor Xavier comes in with a worried look on his face.

"What's with the distress expression Chuck?" Logan said as he folds the newspaper back and puts it on the table.

"Rogue told me this morning that Mystique has come back to Bayville High as Principal Darkholme.

"Mystique!" Logan shouted. "What's that little low lying life form doing here!"

"Now, now Logan, we need to think this properly." Professor Xavier said as he wheeled closer to the table.

"But we have to be careful of what we say; Peprica tells me that Kurt is quite sensitive of people talking behind him about his mother." Storm says as she sips her herbal tea.

"I don't care what the elf thinks about what I…who's Peprica?" Logan said.

Professor Xavier looked up and smiled. "She's new here. Her name is Peprica Star. I think you would see her soon."

At school, Kitty enters the school building runs straight into the auditorium where the others are. On the stage, Rouge is directing Lance what to do for the show that will be seen by everyone that will happen tonight.

"Sorry I'm late!" Kitty said as she ran towards Rogue and Lance. The moment she saw Lance, she skidded to a stop.

_Oh no! Lance is here! What am I going to do!_

"Hey Kitty! Listen, do you happen to have my…." Before Lance could finish, Kitty cut him short.

"OH! UM! Rouge, you told me you wanted me to try on something the girls did?" Kitty said uneasily.

Rouge looked at her with an awkward look on her face. Before Lance could reply, Kitty grabbed Rouge's hand and pulled her backstage leaving Lance a bit puzzled. Backstage, Kitty drags Rouge into the dressing room and closes the door behind them.

"What am I going to do!" Kitty said with panic in her eyes.

"Let me see…option one, tell him the truth…"

"Out!"

"Option two; tell him ya will pass it back in a few days?"

"He will ask why and I have to answer all his questions! Out!"

"Option three, say you lend his sweater to a friend and he or she hasn't return in yet?"

Kitty looks at her with an irritated look on her face.

"Moving on…"

"Option four, since I am out of ideas, I shall start from option one…tell him the truth!" Rouge said as she slumped into the chair and looks at Kitty. Kitty turns around and starts knocking her head on the wooden door.

"Or just buy a new one?"

Kitty knocks her head one more time and looks up.

"Rogue! You just said something brilliant all this while!" Kitty said as she hugs Rouge tight.

"Are ya saying that ah have been talking stupid things for the past few seconds?"

Back at the Xavier Mansion, Peprica is in the newly built in gym practicing her martial arts. Peprica, dressed in army shorts and green sleeveless shirt, barefooted, takes a sip of her water and returns to the punching bag.

Peprica kept on practicing from the time she woke up till then, three hours, non-stop. Her hair is in a total mess and something seems to be wrong. Ever since yesterday she met up with her attacker, she felt that she knows him but yet, she doesn't know who. Peprica thought over this over and over again while punching the punching bag. Too deep in thought, she didn't realize that Logan walked in.

_So that must be Peprica…looks like she's training in martial arts. Let's see how far she's gotten._

Logan walked over to Peprica while she kept on punching the punching bag, not realizing that one of the professors is in the gym. Just then, a flash back of her father being taken away by the policeman and the chief taking her away.

"_**NO! I want my dad! What did you accuse him for stealing?"**_

"ARGH!"

Unknowingly, Peprica turns around and kicks the bag off its chains and slams it into Logan, knocking him to the floor.

"OMFF!"

Peprica turned around and brushes her strands of her hair aside. She was surprised to see one of the professors she supposes him to be on the floor with the punching bag on top of him.

"OMG! I am so sorry! I…I didn't mean to!" Peprica runs towards Logan and takes the punching bag of him. She then takes his hand and pulls him up.

"I am so sorry! Really I am! I didn't mean to! I don't know what came over me!" Peprica apologized in fear of having a misunderstanding. Logan rubs his neck and looks down at her.

"Good use of strength, too bad we got to replace the chains…" Logan smiled as he looks at the broken chain swinging round and round.

"Peprica right?"

Peprica looked up at Logan who stretches his arm out to shake hands with her. Peprica looks at his hands and smiles.

"You got that right, you must be Professor Logan." Peprica said as she shook hands with Logan.

"So…how long have you been training in Martial arts?" Logan asks.

"One of my mutant powers is born Martial arts ability, so I just practice everyday to sharpen my gift."

Logan looks at the punching bag and the chain and smirks.

"How about a competition Pep? You and me." Logan said as he takes a few steps back and prepares himself. Peprica does the same and replies, "You're on!"

Logan charges towards her and dives down to knock her off her legs but Peprica leaps high into the air and flips backward.

"Good jump." Logan says. With that, Logan and Peprica head towards each other in a combat. Peprica swings her leg but Logan shields himself his arm and strikes back. Peprica then does 360 degrees turn in the air and smacks down on Logan, knocking him to the ground. Logan quickly swipes her leg and Peprica falls too. Logan gets up and Peprica jumps back up and run towards Logan and they start an arm to arm combat. Then, Peprica flips backwards and Logan runs towards her. She spins as she does a handstand with her legs split, making it difficult to fight back. Then, with no warning, Peprica drops and rolls forward and knocks Logan to the ground.

"Okay…let's take a break. You're very good Pep; in fact, I think you will do better than the rest, even Rogue." Logan said with pride.

"Thanks panting" Peprica said as she catches her breathe. "You're quite tough, good person to train with."

"Since you've join the institute, you are expected to be in my class with the New Mutants." Logan said as he walks over and takes a sip of water.

"Okay, I…"

_**-Flashback-**_

_**Peprica is shot at the back.**_

"_**AHH!"**_

_**And comes tumbling down from the sky into the area in a huge mansion.**_

_**-End of flashback-**_

"AAAHHH!" Peprica screamed as she rubs her faces. Logan drops his bottle of water as Peprica falls to the ground.

_**-Flashback-**_

**_Under a pouring rain, Peprica runs through the wet streets with the policeman slowly fading in the distance. She runs through the streets, dashing through the roads, dodging the cars. Her eyes widen as a car is coming towards her. With a leap, she jumps onto the car and runs on top of it and leaps into the air and onto the pavement. There, people witnessed everything and all stepped aside as she ran away._**

_**-End of flashback-**_

Peprica falls to the ground on her knees.

_**-Flashback-**_

_**In the bell tower, shadow shows a figure crying in one corner as lightning spreads across the sky.**_

"_**DAAADDD!"**_

_**Her shouts linger in the brewing storm and because of her shouts, everyone in the village stopped and looked at the bell tower.**_

_**-End of Flashback-**_

Peprica's eyes are shut tight as tears seeped from her closed eyes.

"What's wrong Pep!" Logan said as he kneels in front of Peprica.

_**-Flashback-**_

"_**Get cold water now! Her fever is still escalating!"  
**_

**_The nun brought a basin of cold water and puts it by the doctor's side as Peprica lies on a mattress with a cold towel on her forehead._**

"**_I want my dad! Mummy! Leave me alone!"_**

**_Peprica shouts as the nuns hold her down while she struggles to break free.  
_**

"_**I have to give her an injection or her fever won't go down!"  
**_

_**The doctor drew out a long sharp needle and squirted out a medicine and gets ready to inject it into her. Peprica's eyes widen as hot tears runs down her face.**_

"_**No! Anything but that! PLEASE!" Peprica pleads as the doctor moved towards her arm.**_

"_**Don't move child! This won't hurt if you stop moving around!" The doctor said as the nuns are having a hard time holding Peprica down.**_

**_Seeing the needle drawing closer to her skin, Peprica draws an immense amount of strength. The nun holding her leg down fell backwards and Peprica kicks the injection out of the doctor's hand. The needle flew up and got stuck on the wooden plank._**

_**Thunder roars and lightning flashes across the sky as Peprica screams.**_

_**-End of flashback-**_

Peprica placed her hands on her head screaming in fear as Logan tries to get a hold of her.

"Peprica! What's wrong?" Logan says. Just then, Peprica's hair turns midnight blue and her wings grew out.

"RAAHHH!" Peprica shouts as her eyes shot wide open revealing glowing midnight sky colour eyes. Logan gasped at the sight of her eyes; he could see the fear and pain her eyes.

"Help me! Someone! Don't hurt me! Go away! Dad! Mummy!" Peprica freaks out as she unconsciously says it. Just then, Storm comes running in with Professor Xavier. Upon seeing her, Professor Xavier quickly taps into her mind and soon, Peprica falls to the ground unconscious. Her wings grew back in and her hair colour changed back to snowy starry white. Storm ran over to Peprica and aids her while Logan gets up. Professor Xavier wheels over to Logan.

"What just happened?" Logan said worriedly.

"My telepathy picked up the memories of her pasts…she's…been through a lot Logan…these sudden rapid flashbacks frightened her."

"But why?"

"The day we found her, she lost part of the memory on when she was attacked. So as she is slowly recollecting the memories, part of her pasts is brought in the process." Professor Xavier said as he turns to Peprica.

"Because of being a mutant, sometimes, things affect us differently Logan, in her case, her past is haunting her." Professor Xavier said as he kept his eyes on Peprica as a tear escapes Peprica's eye.

In a shopping mall, Kitty has been having a rough day. Number one, she ran out of money that she had to borrow from Scott. Number two, she spent the whole day looking for the exact sweater. Just as she walked out of the mall, she didn't phase through the mob who was rushing for the ten minute sale and the bag containing the sweater was knocked out of her hand. The bag dropped onto the road and a car ran over it with mud and water. By the time she got to it, it was done for.

In a lonely park, Kitty is sitting on a swing swinging as she feels that her relationship with Lance is over.

"He'll never forgive me…never." Kitty said as the wind blew lightly.

In the distance, Lance and Rouge were watching Kitty on the swing.

"She wanted to get the same sweater for ya because the one ya lend to her got messed up. Now that she bought a new one and it has been destroyed, she doesn't even know how to face ya anymore." Rouge said as she placed her hand on Lance's shoulder.

Lance could see Kitty really loves him and he knew she was afraid that he would be upset with her.

"Truth is, I never really liked that sweater. I only brought it to school that day because the others got dirty and it was the only clean one."

"Then why do ya want it back?"

"I thought I should give it to the homeless children since I thought of discarding it anyway."

"Well, ya should go talk to her." Rouge said. She patted his shoulder and left.

Lance walked towards Kitty and placed his hand on Kitty's shoulder.

"Huh?"

Kitty turns around to see Lance's soft loving face smiling at her teary eyes. "Sniff Lance? What…what are you doing here?" Kitty said as she wipes her tears away.

Lance sat on the other swing and holds her hand.

"Kitty, I know what happened."

Kitty was shocked but tries to hide it.

"About…about what?" Kitty laughs uneasily. Lance leans forward and places a soft kiss on her lips.

"You don't have to get me a new sweater; I didn't like it in the first place."

Lance took the time to explain everything to Kitty and once this was clear, Kitty returned a kiss and smiles.

"Having a guy who understands and even thinks of the kids…really melts my heart." Kitty smiles as she walks away with Lance arm in arm with her head leaning on Lance's shoulder.

**Next chapter: Carnival fun**

**Author: Okay…I know this story mainly focused on Peprica because I kind of didn't really want to focus on Kitty and Lance…sorry. Anyway, sorry if I didn't update much because I have been really busy. **

**Anyway, to let you have a sneak peak of next chapter, Kurt is at the carnival having fun with Mystique…his mother! YAH! Mystique and Kurt have some mother and son bonding time and Amanda is getting a little suspicious of Kurt and Principal Darkholme.**

**Please Review! Even if this story is not very good….well…not forcing you to.**


	10. Apology!

**Sorry everyone! I am putting a pause on this story for a while. Cause I am been caught up doing a lot of stuff and I don't really have ideas for the next chapter. I am currently also doing another X-men story so…yeah. Sorry to kill the mood.**

**Kurt and Mystique Fan! My favourite family!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Title: Carnival Fun**

Night before the Carnival

"Kitty! How long more will ya hog up the bathroom?" Rogue shouted from outside the bathroom, banging her fists on the door. Just then, the door opens revealing Kitty in her PJs and a towel around her neck with her hair down.

"Sheesh Rogue, why so impatient?" Kitty asks with a smirk on her face.

"Ah only take less than 10 minutes to bathe Kitty, ya took 20 over minutes!" Rogue fumes as she places her hands on her hips.

BAMF!

"AAH!"

Rogue and Kitty screams as Kurt appears right in front of them. "Kurt! What do ya want me to have! A heart attack!" Rogue bursts out waving her hands while Kitty is still catching her breath.

Kurt gives Rogue an awkward look. "Thought you guys would get use to it by now." Kurt simply puts. "Anyway, have you seen Peprica?"

"She's downstairs in the living room playing Red Warriors with Ray." Kitty says.

Down below, Ray and Peprica say side by side in front of the big screen TV with the others watching them from behind.

"No…NO! My warrior!" Peprica exclaims as she stares at the TV.

"YES! I win! I win! Game Over! I'm still king!" Ray shouts waving his controller in the air.

"Don't worry Peprica; there will still be room for improvement. Hey, none of us has ever beaten Ray in Red Warriors." Bobby assures.

Just then, Kurt ports in. Everyone turns to see Kurt behind them. "Is that Red Warrior?" Kurt asks.

Ray picks up the box and points at it. "Yup! My grandmother send it over to me…more like mail it to me."

"Dude, your grandmother got that for you? What's the occasion?" Kurt asks.

Ray shrugs and looks at the TV. "Well, my grandmother thinks it's my birthday."

"But your birthday was two months ago and your grandmother sent you a box full of Comics." Jubilee points out.

"She can't always remember me and my parents' birthdays so she always makes sure she sends something." Ray embarrassedly says.

"How come I don't have a grandmother like that!" Jamie envied.

Ray sticks his tongue out at Jamie. "Too bad…so who's up for another game?"

Kurt walks over to Peprica and asks her to follow him. Outside on the porch, Kurt looks out at the night sky. "Hey, I just want to say thank you."

Peprica raises one eyebrow and looks at Kurt with confusion. "Huh? What did I do?"

The clouds start to clear up revealing a blanket of stars shining brightly in the sky. "For giving me the chance to forgive my mother. Things are starting to clear up for me and her."

Peprica smiles and looks up at the night sky. "I'm happy for you. At least you get to be with her, my father doesn't even know I'm alive. Cherish her Kurt; she is after all your mother. I think she's happy to know you are willing to give her the chance to change."

At the same time, back at the Brotherhood, up in a large room, a woman sits by her window, looking at the beautiful stars.

She knew she had made many mistakes in her life and she thought that gaining back her son's love will never come true. However, things seem to be kind towards her, letting her have the opportunity to be a mother again.

Mystique looks at the stars as tears seep from her eyes. Those tears aren't sadness but happiness. Her heart felt like it has been raised from the grave and given the second chance to live again. In her mind, she finally got everything settled straight. If she could, she would like to make some changes in her life, starting with herself.

"Kurt, I'm going to make every effort to change. I want to have a happy ending for you and me. Really…I do." Mystique softly says as she gets up, leaving the window open as the soft breeze blew in.

Carnival Day!

"Welcome everyone to our Dream Carnival! We hope that you will enjoy your time here and that your memories here will forever stay in colour! Have a wonderful day!"

Kurt stands at the entrance of the Carnival dressed in blue jeans and green short sleeve collar shirt. He checks his image inducer which also has a time on it. He stands at the side and watch families walk in. There was this certain family that looks so happy together. A little boy with a balloon tied to his hand sits on the father's shoulder as the mother holds the son's hand. Kurt could only just look at them and smile.

"Mummy? Can we ride on the merry-go-round first?"

"Of course honey!"

"Hey James, maybe after that, we can ride the Spinner! How about that?"

"All right Dad!"

Soon, the family disappeared into the Carnival. Kurt leans against the tree, waiting. "Kurt?"

Kurt turns around to see Amanda standing behind him. "Amanda! What are you doing here!" Kurt asks. Amanda turns to look at her mother and father purchasing the tickets. "For the carnival silly. You here alone?"

Kurt couldn't tell Amanda who he's with and now, he's hoping if his mother would turn up as Principal Darkholme. "No, I'm with… a friend."

"Amanda! Come on! Oh! Hi Kurt!" Amanda's parents waved at Kurt and Kurt waved back. Amanda gives a kiss on Kurt's cheek and smiles. "Well, see you later!" and with that, Amanda ran up to her parents. Kurt watches Amanda wave back and enter the carnival.

"Kurt?"

Kurt turns around to see his mother. She's in her real form except for her blue skin; her skin is fair, just like Kurt's.

"Surprised?" Mystique smiled warmly.

Mystique is dressed in dark blue jeans and a white short sleeve collar shirt. For a mother, Mystique looked smashing and to Kurt, his mother looks hot. "Wow." Kurt could only put, staring at her whole outfit. The outfit really brought out her fit body and curves out. Man is he lucky to have a mother who looks good.

"What? Am I too good looking that I might steal all the attention away from you?" Mystique laughs as she gives nudges on Kurt's head.

"AH! Ma…hahaha! Let go me! Hahaha!" Kurt laughs as he struggles to get out of his mother's grip. Mystique finally let's goes of Kurt and smoothens out his hair that she messed up. She takes two steps back and takes a good look at her son. "Hmm…I don't think I can steal all the attention away from you."

Kurt laughs.

"What? Am I too good looking that I might steal all the attention away from you?" Kurt repeats what she said earlier on. Mystique gasps and smirks.

"Are you back sassing your Mother?" Mystique smirks as she places her hands on her hips. "Nope…maybe…depends." Kurt eyes. Mystique places her hand around Kurt's shoulder as they walk in.

While walking…

"So what do you want to ride first?" Kurt asks, looking at the map. Mystique looks over and takes a glance at the map. "You want to start out small then head on to the large ones or just take a dive into the large ones first?" Mystique asks.

Kurt thinks for awhile and sees the word, Bumper Cars.

"How about we think about it on the Bumpy way?" Kurt says

**Hey now  
Hey now**

Kurt and Mystique get into each their own bumper cars. Kurt's car is dark blue with red streaks on it. Mystique's car is dark red with yellow stars on it.

**Hey now  
Hey now**

BEEEP!

The cars stars moving and there it goes!

**Have you ever seen such a beautiful night?  
I could almost kiss the stars for shining so bright  
**

Kurt starts bumping into all the cars mischievously.

**When i see you smiling, I go  
oh oh oh**

Mystique looks over to see Kurt coming straight at her, with a big naughty childish smile on his face. "I'm coming!" Mystique's eyes widen as Kurt came coming closer.

**i would never want to miss this  
cuz in my heart i know what this is  
**

BAM!

Before Kurt could wham into Mystique, a little girl slams into him first making Mystique burst out in laughter.

"HAHA! Look Daddy! I won! I hit a boy!"

**Hey now  
Hey now  
This is what dreams are made of  
**

Kurt shakes his head and turns to his left. "WHOA!" With a turn, Mystique slams her car into the cushioned wall seconds after Kurt swung his car away.

Wham!

Kurt swings his hand in the air as he brings his mother down.

**Hey now  
Hey now  
This is what dreams are made of**

Kurt drags his mother over to the House of Mirrors. "Slow down Kurt!"

**I've got somewhere i belong  
I've got somebody to love  
This is what dreams are made of  
**

Inside the house, Kurt looks at the mirrors. At one mirror, he's big and fat with a large nose. Mystique looks at one mirror, reflecting her as a tall, extremely skinny woman with tiny eyes.

"Hey mum!"

Mystique turns around to see Kurt pretending to be a body builder. In the reflection, he is packed with muscles. "Look! No image inducer!" Kurt points out.

**(Hey now)  
(Hey now)**

Mystique takes out her camera and puts non-flash. She takes a few pictures of Kurt being a muscle man. Looking back at the pictures on her digital camera, she laughs. "Working out a lot?" (Sarcasim)

**Have you ever wondered what life is about?  
You could search the world and never figure it out**

Mystique throws the camera to Kurt as he takes pictures of her with funny reflection. One is she looks like a fat pig. One is she has a tiny waist with a thin body at the top. Kurt couldn't help but burst into laughter as his mother makes funny faces.

**you don't have to sail the oceans  
no no no**

A picture of Mystique arm in arm with Kurt, both with big smiles on their faces and with the peace sign.

**  
happiness is no mystery  
it's here now it's you and me  
**

Mystique is at the Bow and Arrow where you have arrows with plunger tops at the end instead of sharp things. With one pull, she lets go and the arrow goes sailing and hits the middle of the board.

**Hey now  
Hey now  
This is what dreams are made of**

"Prize for you!"

A man gives Mystique a medium sized white teddy bear. "My turn!" Kurt excitedly says.

**Hey now  
Hey now  
This is what dreams are made of **

Kurt takes out another arrow and pulls. "Fire away!" Mystique shouts. As Kurt is about to let go, a little girl rushes past him and he let's go the arrow into the man's face.

"MMFFFF!" The man shouts as he tries to pull the plunger off his face.

"GASP!" (Mystique's hands over her mouth and Kurt's hands over his eyes)

**  
I've got somewhere i belong  
I've got somebody to love  
This is what dreams are made of  
**

Kurt lifts the large wooden hammer and slams it onto the platform. The ring raises upon impact and only went up to ALMOST THERE. Mystique grins and takes the large hammer. "Let me show you how an expert does it."

"Oh who is this expert?" Sarcasim

**Open your eyes  
(This is what dreams are made of)  
shout to the sky   
(This is what dreams are made of)**

Mystique slams the hammer down and the ring shot up and hits the bell. The bell lights up and a sign shows up, YOU'VE REACHED IT!

Kurt twitches as Mystique looks over smiling, happy at her achievement. Kurt looks at her. "Lucky I guess."

**Then i see u smiling, I go  
oh oh oh**

Mystique and Kurt are strapped into each a seat and soon, the seat start twirling around the platform. It got faster and faster and you can hear people screaming out.

"WOOHOO!" Kurt yells out.

"AAAHHHH!" That was Mystique

**  
Yesterday my life was duller  
Now everything's Technicolor**

The seats spun like never before and soon, the place light up with different colours like the place was a disco.

**(Hey now)  
(Hey now)   
This is what dreams are made of**

Kurt and Mystique got off the ride and both were very dizzy, especially those who rode on it.

**Hey now  
Hey now  
This is what dreams are made of**

Kurt and Mystique walked towards each other unsteadily. Each look at each other and both cover their mouths.

**I've got somewhere i belong  
I've got somebody to love  
This is what dreams are made of  
**

Both ran past one another to the toilets, with a very sick look on their faces.

**(Hey now)  
(Hey now)  
Hey now  
This is what dreams  
This is what dreams are made of**

Outlook of the carnival.

**Next Chapter: Carnival Fun 2**

**Author: Okay…it is not much, actually, I really tried but I hope that next chapter will be better. Next chapter is when Mystique and Kurt talk about their lives. The next chapter is also about Kurt's father and how Mystique lost him. After Carnival Fun 2, there will be Carnival Fun 3 where Amanda's parents meet Mystique and Kurt. At that story, Amanda gets suspicious about Mystique and Kurt. Why didn't Kurt tell her? **

**Please Review! I know it sucks…I think. **

**  
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